#9 - Element 6: Conduit for Conversation | 10 Elements of Proficiency-Oriented World Language Instruction

Today's element - the class! Everything should be a conduit for conversation in world language. So where does that leave teachers? As the party host, of course!

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Take action - pick 1 element from today's episode and see where you can make some tiny tweaks to add more target language into your world language class today!
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Transcript

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What's up, kelo k e. Salut, world language teachers. Welcome to the Practical Proficiency podcast, where we make the transition to proficiency oriented instruction in your world language class in a way that works for you, your unique context and teaching style, and doesn't sacrifice your well being along the way. I'm your host, Devin Gunning, the teacher author, conference host, curriculum creator, and consultant behind La Libre language learning. This podcast is for the creative world language teacher like you, who's ready to ditch the overwhelming pressure of switching to acquisition driven instruction and CI overnight, you're ready to discover how using more target language in class can actually bring you and your students more joy. Instead of adding to your plate with practical, authentic, and down to earth strategies that don't require reinventing the wheel or more training, we'll work together towards the magic of a community target language rich classroom rooted in the power of community and comprehensible input. Let's go. Oh hey, world language teachers. Welcome back to another episode of the practical proficiency podcast. I'm your host, Devin, and I'm so excited to hang out with you. Today we are continuing our series on the ten elements of world language proficiency instruction. What does acquisition really look like in a classroom environment? We're breaking this down piece by piece into each element so that it's easier for you to tweak and see where your successes are, as well as make improvements where needed. What we're focusing on today is element number six. So if you've made it this far in the series, you're crushing it. So give yourself a pat on the back. Today's element number six is one of my favorites. This is conduit for conversation, and the reason this is one of my favorites is because when you flip your focus for everything in your classroom to try to be a conduit for conversation, magic happens. Everybody's goal in world language is to get people to communicate better with each other. So why not make that the whole point of our classroom? It's easier said than done, but if your lesson's focal point is to always be a conduit for conversation whenever possible, that means that you are either providing input that's easy for students to understand or easy ways for them to interact with each other and with you in the target language, it also means that you view yourself in a very specific role. You're less of the master guardian of knowledge, which is something we're all trying to get away from in teaching. Because we've seen the research, we know that it doesn't work and we want to be the champion for our students to help them facilitate their learning journey and specifically with world language, to give them good reasons and to facilitate that conversation and that acquisition of language. So what that looks like in a classroom setting, in a classroom construction, is you are like a party host. You are always trying to find ways to get students to listen to you in the target language, to talk to you in the target language in ways that is, that are easily accessible to them. And you're also always trying to find ways to make class so fun that students want to be a part of the conversation. That's why I call it like being a party host. So being conduit for conversation will change the tone and feel of your class in a way where things naturally start to be more oriented for proficiency, even without you doing the big things that people usually do, like go to trainings or switch up the things that they're using in class, or advocate for all different changes in their programs. When your class, or even just changing up the methodologies that they're using, especially specifically when your class becomes more about conversation and less about direct instruction, your students will be safely and gradually immersed in language that they enjoy working with. Cause it feels like a party. So here's how you do this. Here are three ways that you can make this a little bit easier to work with in your classroom. Every time that you're evaluating a game, a lesson, an activity, or an idea, think of it like you are a party host. Will this get a conversation going? Will this be fun to talk about you? Also, for number two, you are viewing yourself as a language facilitator, as we've talked about earlier, and I've heard this on a podcast before, and it's such a great way to put an image to this role. But you are an insatiably curious conversation partner, somebody who's trying to get to know your students and try to understand your students, and you want them to understand what you're saying and respond to what you say. The next part is that you have a few or more favorite activities to generate conversation. You have things like picture talks under your belt, or maybe not even specifically that, but something like that, where you have a few activities that are fun, conversation oriented, and feel a lot like hosting a party, some type of input and output games. There is a reason that in the comprehensible input community that teachers are borrowing table games, party games, get to know you games, and switching them around to make them feel more like language acquisition games. What they're really doing is they're taking games that we're using to have fun and get to know each other, and they're just pulling, putting a target language spin on it. What better way is there to learn a language, really, and to work with it in a fun way? So consider that the focal point of your classroom is what cool ways can I get my students to understand me? Want to listen in and want to respond? Everything in class is a conduit for conversation. Thanks so much for being here and. I'm really excited to bring to you element number. We're gonna get into some real juicy stuff, so stick around for the next one. And if you haven't done this yet, choose your adventure today. Share this with somebody that you think in the world language community could really use this that would benefit from this lesson, or send me a rating for some good karma. This really helps the podcast, especially in its early days, get seen by other people so that we can have a bigger impact together. So thank you again for being a part of this special world language teacher community, and I'll see you in the next episode. But for now, David.